Superfood Crunch Salad with Homemade Balsamic Apple Vinaigrette

December 30, 2014Angela (Oh She Glows)

by Angela (Oh She Glows) on December 30, 2014

This past year was easily my most memorable on record. It started with finding out we were expecting early in January, then it was a move and a several month house renovation (I do not recommend this while pregnant, hah), my first cookbook released in March, September brought the birth of our baby girl, and in November the launch of a new business – most of these things were going on at the same time throughout 2014, including nurturing and growing this recipe blog and a new baby blog. I know I’m forgetting some things. My head is spinning just thinking about everything that happened. It was a complete whirlwind with many unexpected highs and inevitable lows, but I leave the year feeling extremely grateful with many lessons in hand and a heart filled to the brim.

The greatest blessing of my life happened this year – the birth of our daughter – and in the blink of an eye my entire life was changed for the better. I don’t know how I ever lived without this smiley, charming, squirmy baby girl. During late winter and early spring, in my first trimester, I had major anxiety about how I would handle my role as a parent. Had I made the right decision? How would I balance being a parent and my career? It kept me up at night with worry. I was never the girl who just knew I’d be a mother some day. All my friends would talk about their baby fever and I couldn’t relate at all so I started to think that I just wasn’t cut out for it. Maternal instincts seemed foreign and babies scared the bejesus out of me. For real! I felt so awkward around them. But over the years, gradually, we decided it was something we both wanted and that fear was the only thing holding us back. I guess the uncertainty was to be expected though. There were many low days during my first trimester (many of which were likely hormone driven) – including Sketchie’s heartbreaking diagnosis and subsequent treatment – but thankfully my doubts faded as the pregnancy went on. The moment Adriana was placed into my arms, I knew everything was how it was always meant to be. I just knew we’d figure it out. I’ve struggled with the desire to control things in my life for so long and finally, I learned how liberating it can feel to just take things as they come. You hear people say it all the time, but I honestly never knew my heart could love someone so much. That kind of intense love is an extremely powerful motivator – there’s no more questioning, you just do what needs to be done and that’s that.

The New Year is shaping up to be a busy one once again, but my growing baby is a refreshing reminder that the smaller moments in life are the best. They are what make me truly happy. I’m trying to embrace the little (yet powerful) things more and let other things slide when they need to. It’s not easy. I’m hoping 2015 brings more inner peace, balance, and calmness, but I will have to do the work to make that happen because as we all know, it just doesn’t magically fall into place; whatever it is that we want only comes with a lot of hard work and perseverance. Oh, and laughter. You need that ingredient for success. Not to mention, realizing that nothing will ever be just right all at the same time…and that’s ok.

Thank you wonderful people for coming here each week and making this work that I do so very rewarding. For caring about my stories, embracing new recipes, and sharing a glimpse into your own life. I am constantly amazed by the beauty of your words and the stories you share with me. I wish you all the best that 2015 has to offer, including healthy, veggie-filled meals that renew your excitement whenever you sit down for a meal.

In the spirit of a fresh start, let’s cue the token salad recipe to kick off another year of healthy, feel-good recipes! I’m going to skip the whole “oh I’ve been eating too many sweets and need to eat more veggies” spiel (totally true though) and just get to the recipe because its a good one!

I’ve never been one to think that a salad should be a punishment food. A good hearty salad is a cause for celebration. Call me crazy, but I tend to get as excited about a good salad as I would a rich dessert or sheet of cookies. Or a pan of roasted brussels sprouts, for that matter. It’s the small things, it really is.

5 from 31 reviews

Superfood Crunch Salad with Homemade Balsamic Apple Vinaigrette

Shredded Lacinato kale is tossed in a tangy balsamic, apple cider, maple, and garlic dressing and then topped with sliced pear, pomegranate arils, pepita, hemp, and black sesame seeds, and large flaked coconut. Whenever the dull winter weather has you feeling blah, whip up this vibrant dose of nutrients and you'll be feeling better in no time.

Yield3-4 small bowls

Prep time30 Minutes

Cook time0 Minutes

Total time30 Minutes

Ingredients:

For the dressing:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon pure maple syrup, or to taste

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the salad:

8-10 cups destemmed and shredded Lacinato (dino) kale (2 bunches)

1 pear, thinly sliced and chopped

1/2 cup pomegranate arils

1/4 cup pepita seeds

3-4 tbsp large flake coconut

1-2 tbsp hemp hearts

1-2 teaspoons black sesame seeds (optional)

sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Adjust to taste if desired.

Remove all of the stems from the kale leaves and compost the stems (or if you are hard core you can save them for smoothies). Finely chop the kale leaves into tiny "shredded" pieces. The smaller the more tender the leaves will feel. Wash and spin dry. Place kale into a large salad bowl. You should have about 8-10 cups of kale for this salad.

Toss the kale in all of the dressing until everything is coated nicely. The kale will reduce in volume substantially.

Add the toppings (as much as you want - I recommend lots!), sprinkle with cinnamon, and serve immediately. Or let the dressing marinate the kale for a half hour or so. This salad is best served fresh, but it will keep chilled in the fridge for a day. if you don't think you will eat that quickly, I recommend making a half batch at a time or simply store the kale and dressing separately until ready to mix and consume.

Thank you for the kind words! No new lens, but still using my Canon 100mm f/2.8 L IS lens and loving it. I did use a tripod for these shots so maybe that was the difference as I don’t always use it if I’m rushing! I’ve also been embracing the late afternoon dark winter light lately. ;)

Hello Paula, and echoing Paula all the way from Belgium wishing you and your family a Happy New Year!
We are trying this superfood salad tomorrow, once the shops re-open and I can get coconut and pomegranate (love pomegranate seeds in dark green salads). Ange, this looks like a beautiful Christmas salad too: winter veggies, dark pine green, ruby red, with icy shards on top. I pinned it to remind me for next year’s Christmas table.

Just ate this! Thanks, the dressing is particularly lovely. I made extra. My preschoolers are eating it without garlic for their more tender tastebuds. I turned this into a meal salad using your TNT roasted sweet potatoes and chickpea croûtons and voilà, get out of jail free card from making dinner and lots of nutrients for this tired third trimester mom! Cheers.

I have been reading your blog for a couple of years now and have been consistently inspired and motivated by it. I just found out a couple of days ago that I am pregnant and whilst it is a happy surprise it is also a scary one. Your posts have already provided me with much needed reassurance that I can do it! So I wanted to say thank you for that :)

This salad looks so so good. I just came back from the grocery store after 8 days of being out of town for the holidays and I think I bought my weight in produce. I’m craving fresh salads after all the eating out and holiday treats!

Good question! I love adding roasted chickpeas to salads…a great pop of protein and a nice texture. :) Any bean would work though and I also think protein-rich quinoa would be a great addition to stir in!

I relate so much to how you talk about having a baby. “Mom” was not a way I ever imagined myself until the day I met my daughter. Then I could not imagine a life without her. Happy new years to your beautiful family!

Angela, Happy Holidays to you and your beautiful family. I am so thankful that in my search for gluten-free recipes I found your site. Your recipes and blogs have been such an inspiration for my family. I’d say that after just 3 1/2 months I am about 90% vegan and my husband and girls are around 80%. And, even more important to me, we are all probably 90-95% real, whole foods, having eliminated a lot of the pre-packaged, processed stuff in favor of much tastier homemade fare! I love to cook and have the heart and creativity of a chef without the desire to work as one :). For Thanksgiving this year, we hosted, and while we did serve turkey, the rest of the meal was completely vegan, including several desserts…your pumpkin pie recipe is the best I’ve ever had. And when my brother-in-law, a self-proclaimed meat-and-potatoes guy dove into the roasted Brussels sprouts and fingerling potatoes from your cookbook, he proclaimed “Wow, Milissa, this is like eating at a 5-star restaurant!” I couldn’t have felt more rewarded! You have pushed my creativity in the best way and I have recipes flowing out of my brain faster than I can write them down and test them! And, for me, the most exciting thing is that I will be launching my own website very soon with content focusing on living naturally and will include many of my own recipes and lots of links to yours! I really can’t say thank you enough! God Bless you and your family in 2015! And I will be making and serving this salad on New Year’s Day as a shot-gun start to even healthier eating in the year to come:)

Hi Milissa,
Thank you so much for your lovely words, I’m so touched! And I couldn’t be happier to hear about all the changes you and your family have embraced. Thanks for trying out so many of my recipes! All the best with your new blog. I look forward to checking it out!

Thanks so much for this awesome recipe! And for the pep talk – I’m expecting a baby in June and am having all of the same anxieties. How do working moms do it?! How will I do it?! This is the number one question on my mind these days…I’m feeling much better after reading this post :)

Congratulations on a wonderful 2014 and thank you for sharing your stories and for feeding my lactose-intolerant husband and I over the years. Your website and cookbook are always my first go-to for party planning and “just bring an appetizer” get-togethers with friends.

Wow, this salad looks excellent! I can’t wait to try it out! Anyways, I just wanted to let you know how much of an inspiration you have been for me. I came across your blog sometime at the beginning of 2014, and since then have tried so many of your recipes online, and have bought your cookbook and got recipes out from their. You are truly great at what you do and I hope you never stop. ALL of your recipes I have tried have been devoured by myself, and my heavy meat eating family. I can’t thank you enough for your hard work, Angela. :) I hope you have a very happy new year.

God, I need some salad in my life. Fairly certain I gained about 10 pounds from eating too many vegan gingerbread cookies the past few weeks. No seriously – the only thing that fits is my leggings. Oops. THANK GOODNESS FOR SUPERFOODS
youtube.com/sparklesandsuch26

Angela, thank you for sharing a bit behind your motherhood story. I feel the same way as you did (pre-baby) when people talk about wanting to be a mom. It makes me nervous. Thanks for letting me know I’m not the only one. ;) My sister gave me your cookbook for Christmas and it was honestly one of my favorite gifts. I made one of your bowls yesterday and it made me SO happy. Thank you for sharing all that you do! Happy New Year.

Happy Hogmanay and Slainte Mhath (Scottish happy new year and a toast) to you and your family Angela. Congratulations on a fantastic whirlwind year for you. Your blog and cookbook have been a constant source of inspiration and has helped me plan many a weeks of meals for myself and my family. Thank you,
Terri MacAleese

This salad looks absolutely delicious. Kale is by far my favorite vegetable, and I am always looking for new ways to incorporate it into my diet (though I could eat kale chips everyday of my life and not get sick of them). I can not wait to try out this salad. Thanks for another delicious recipe.

Are there any foods you avoid eating because they may affect your daughter? I remember having a kale salad about 2 weeks after my daughter, Abigail, was born – and I’m pretty sure it caused her some serious gas problems : (

Now that she is 5 weeks, I might slowly try and reintroduce it – because I would really like to try out this salad!

Hi Ange!
I recently bought your book, The Oh She Glows Cookbook. I am very happy about new recipes and great, flavorfull ideas. I am also very careful reader, and not much pass by my eye unattended. On the page 235, on a photo, taking much of an appetite away from such a weirdo like me, to cookie dough bite is glued tiny blond hair. In my book, I glued hand made, smiled cartoon-like dough bite version in that place. I am, and will be for many years more a big fan of you, your recipes and blog itself. Greetings from Germany.

I served this to my family last night as part of our new year festivities- and it was a hit! Even my dad, who is the opposite of me when it comes it meat (he adores the stuff- I can barely look at it!) enjoyed it! Great recipe, as usual! Thanks for the hit!!

I totally feel you about not having baby fever. I am still young (23) and never really think about it, but babies in general are kind of foreign to me. Thank you for sharing your experience! It was very relatable to read.

You have had an amazing year. I very much relate to your wishes for the new year and appreciate your comment about those little things taking work and not just happening. Here’s to your hard work! Oh, and thanks for the recipe – I can’t wait to try it!

Thanks for being willing to open up about your life and your experiences. OSG is such a pleasure to read, so keep it up! The photography of this salad is super well done, and the ingredients are right up my alley. Pomegranates and pepitas?!? Whattt?!? haha I’m definitely going to try this one!

i received your cookbook for Christmas and started reading it. Have learned a lot already! This is the first recipe I have tried of yours and it is very good! Going to make one of the oatmeal recipes tomorrow

AMAZING! This is honestly one of the best salads I’ve ever made. Love all the ingredients together and its unbelievably easy to make and gorgeous too! I have made it twice since posted two weeks ago. Delicious!
Angela, I have made several of your recipes since coming across your site about a month ago and am so impressed. Every one of them has been excellent. We are not vegans but eat pretty healthily and love to cook. My husband is a phenomenal cook and has really enjoyed all of your recipes that I’ve made. He even surprised me with your cookbook for Christmas. I can’t wait to make some of your recipes on my meat loving step-father!
Your story is inspiring and you’ve made it easy of anyone to make deliciously creative meals. Many thanks!

2014 was quite the year for you and your family! You had so many exciting & wonderful things happen. I look forward to seeing what 2015 has in store for you.
This salad sounds super tasty! I can’t wait to try it out =)

Happy New Year to you and your family. I’ve been following you for quite some time now and am a huge fan. You are truly an inspiration. After I had my son 3 years ago is when I completely changed my life around to more real, whole foods and being plant based. Your recipes are lovely and I well we (the hubs and baby mikey too) all enjoy them. Thanks for the inspo. Sending love, light and positive vibes!

Made this for dinner for my hubby & myself after a long holiday season.
We both loved it! In the recipe Angela recommends to toss the dressing to
make the kale softer. I didn’t do this ( not a fan of mushy salad) next time I will
do this. Still yummy & so happy with all its wonderful flavors!

Just wanted to comment that I made this salad tonight and both my husband and I loved it. I used pine nuts instead of hemp seeds and pepita (only because I didn’t have them on hand!) and also added red quinoa. It was SO fantastic. Thanks for another great recipe!

Just made this for lunch. It was sooo good! My belly doesn’t like olive oil and I have to follow a low oil diet so I subbed a Tbsp of avacado oil for the olive oil and it was still very tasty. Thank you for sharing your creations with us! Your recipes are probably our #1 talked about subject at work as of late…haha

Just made this for the first time. And YUM! This recipe has a perfect blend of sweet and sour with lots of crunch added as well. I’m not a big fan of kale, but this is recipe may change its status for me!

Haven’t tried this recipe yet but I absolutely LOVED your other kale salad with the faux-parmesan pecan crumble. I will definitely give this one a try once I recruit all the necessary ingredients :)

I just wanted to say, though, that your admission in this post of never being sure kids were in your future is something that deeply resonates with me. I often wonder (read: worry) that I’m not ‘mommy’ material because I never feel that connection or strong pull towards children. I’d like to hope one day I find the right person with whom to spend my life and that perhaps that will make the difference. Regardless, I really appreciate hearing from women like you. It normalizes everything I’m going through (coupled with lovely veggie recipes as a bonus!).

Congratulations on all of your triumphs this year and thanks for sharing!

This salad is ah-may-Zing!!! I’ve made it twice in the past few weeks for company, and everyone loves it and they all want the recipe! I didn’t have a lot of kale, so I used a Baby kale and spinach mix and it was perfect! Guess what? No one even knew they were eating hemp seeds in their salad-Ha!!
I think this salad would work with any fresh fruit you may have on hand, or different nuts as well. Thanks for the great recipe Angela!

Just made this for dinner tonight! My husband and I both thought it was perfect. I added some grilled chicken for him, and we both had it with some crusty bread and a glass of red wine, perfection. Thank you so much for sharing this as well as your adorable baby pics and story of motherhood!

Just had this for dinner tonight! I only had one bunch of kale so tossed in some spinach as well. I subbed sunflower seeds for pepitas as that’s what I had on hand, and left out the pomegranate seeds since there were none to be had. Wow! We will be eating this one again and again! So delicious..and I am not normally a fan of kale salads. Great recipe!

I’ve tried a lot of your recipes since I decided to eat Vegan back in June of 2013. My favorite has to be the Buddah Bowl! OMG! Delish!
But this dressing has to be one of the best home made dressings I’ve tried in a long time!

Thank you for sharing all these amazing recipes! I think I’m finally going to break the bank and buy your book!

Looking forward to many more amazing recipes,

Jen

P.s. Do you ever find yourself craving things that arent vegan? (i.e. Cheese has to be my biggest struggle, everything else i could take it or leave it). How do you handle that? My experience, with cheese substitutes anyways, is there just not the same.

Angela,
This salad is amazing. I travel a lot and try to stay where I have a kitchenette. It beats eating out but the kitchen implements limit what I can make. This salad was such a treat to be able to make on the road. I always feel so much better when I can eat whole foods while traveling. All your recipes are wonderful. Thank you for all your hard work!

I made a rice salad with veggies and used this dressing and it was amazing. I just cooked a brown rice quinoa mixture that I got from costco and added veggies like cucumber, peppers, peas, green onions, thin red cabbage, dried cranberries and chick peas. I topped it with hemp hearts and pumpkin seeds. Thanks for the recipe

I have been in a food rut, but this recipe made me feel inspired! I made salad in a jars for the week with the salad plus pearl barley with roasted beets & butternut squash. Envy of the office! Thank you for being consistently amazing!!

This was delicious!!! I ended up subbing out kale for spinach, since that was what I had on hand, and it was perfect! The vinaigrette was divine! I plan on making this salad again for the approaching holidays! Thanks for sharing!

Love it! I wondered about the coconut, but with the dressing it was great.
Because of the asian pear/pomegranate along with the nutty taste of the hemp seeds, I’m going to leave the garlic out next time. Otherwise, 5 stars!

Just made this and it was absolutely delicious – new favourite recipe! Definitely going to be having this for lunch quite frequently, such a perfect blend of flavours and textures and it was surprisingly filling too! Have made up a bottle of the vinaigrette to store but next time will probably use a smaller clove of garlic – used quite a large one and could definitely taste it! Everything else was perfect however, 5/5 stars.
Thanks for a brilliant recipe!

Delicious and easy! As someone else mentioned, I served it with roasted potatoes as a side dish and it hit the spot for dinner on one of those weird Southern California days where it was very hot and then suddenly pretty chilly in the evening.

I went into this recipe with such good intentions. I ended up being unable to find pear, pomegranate, and the seeds. I ended up putting carrots and sunflower seeds to accommodate. I loved the coconut and cinnamon in it, something I never would have those to add. Great tips!

Wow! I made this last year for Christmas dinner (with a picky extended family) and even people who don’t like veggies (and think that kale is weird) really liked it. My extended family just asked me to bring it again this year. It’s a wonderful and easy to make salad.